


The Pictures On The Wall

by Dreamsinlilac



Series: Drill Bits & Pieces [1]
Category: The Worst Witch (TV)
Genre: Backstory, Established Relationship, F/F, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 13:46:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8580820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamsinlilac/pseuds/Dreamsinlilac
Summary: The story of some very precious pictures that take pride of place on Constance's office wall.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A ramdom glimpse into Drill Life across various stages. Please feel free to prompt me with any other ideas you may have!

**Abby**

It was just after eight on a Saturday morning in late October when Imogen eased herself out of bed, hoping not to disturb her still sleeping companion. She held her breath while gathering her clothes from the chair in the corner and sneaking into the bathroom to change. Quickly she pulled on the tight lycra, brushed her teeth, tied her hair back and made her way downstairs.

It was a beautiful morning and she momentarily cursed Jamie for bagging the early run before she had. Yes, she could go when he got back from his eighteen mile marathon preparation session but even though she loved running, she always preferred to do it in the morning, especially on a day like today when she had someone so special to spend her time with. 

So instead of running she was going to set up the living room for circuit training. She pulled the sofa back, allowing herself enough room to do plenty of lunges, ab sets and squats as well as some high intensity intervals to get her heart rate up. It was as she was doing some high knees forty minutes later that she became aware of two bright blue eyes watching her from the door.

“Honey.”, Imogen gasped trying to catch her breath. “How did you get downstairs?” She wasn’t surprised that her goddaughter had managed leave their bed and get through the not one but two gates that were meant to keep her away from the stairs. Abby was a ninja when it came to anything allegedly baby-proofed and she and Jamie had often commented that they would both benefit from eyes in the back of their heads while they were looking after her. 

“On my bum.” The almost two year old, dressed in her favourite blue pyjamas with her springy curly hair sticking up everywhere beamed from the door before pointing to the body part in question. “What’cha doing?”

Imogen couldn’t help laughing as she lifted Abby up and gave her a good morning kiss. “Your bottom and I’m exercising.”

“Can I play?”

Luckily Imogen had almost finished her circuits and so she turned the rest of her session into a game for them both. 

“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee.”, Abby giggled as she was lifted high in the air during the arm section.

“Okay, just push ups to go. Are you ready?” Imogen waited until she was sure Abby was holding on tight before lifting her torso off the ground, bearing the weight on her arms before lowering herself down again. It was as she repeated the movement that she heard a voice from the doorway. 

“Smile.” 

Jamie quickly snapped the candid picture before either could fully react.

“When did you get back?” Imogen stood up, keeping Abby on her back as she did so.

“Couple of minutes ago. That looked like such a cute picture, I couldn’t resist. Have you been having fun squirt?”

“Yeah!”, Abby exclaimed. “Lots of fun with Mummy.”

Jamie and Imogen shared a glance. Despite being corrected numerous times, Abby almost never called Imogen by her name, always Mummy. And for her godmother it was a bittersweet experience. It made her feel guilty, thinking of Claire who had wanted nothing more than to be a mother to Abby but had been taken away from her by a terrible disease. It made her feel frightened about the day that David would inevitably take his daughter away again. But she couldn’t deny it also made her feel so happy to hear that word in Abby’s little, but already assertive voice. 

Deciding to change the subject she asked Jamie, “Fancy breakfast in town this morning?”

“God yeah, I need all the food after that run.”

“Me too.”, Abby added from Imogen’s shoulders, smiling even more brightly as her two special people laughed loudly.

“Right so honey, let’s shower and dress then get some food.”

Imogen was still smiling as she carried Abby back upstairs, for some reason this felt like a special day, one to remember. 

 

**Nine Years Later**

“Oh Darling, look at this one.” 

Imogen looked at the picture Constance was holding up. They were spending a rainy Sunday afternoon sorting through boxes of pictures that she wanted to scan into her computer for safe keeping. 

“Wow.” Imogen moved closer, her eyes glazing over as she stared at the image of herself doing a push up with Abby on her back, both of them smiling naturally as Jamie took the photograph. “Honey, come have a look at this.”

Abby shuffled across the room on her backside, old habits died hard, and took the picture from her Mama. “Awww, look at us. I’m so cute and look at your hair Mum, it’s back in the same style now, like you never cut it short.”

Imogen pulled Abby closer to her and dropped a kiss on her forehead. Yes, her hair had grown out from the pixie cut she had sported when she first came to Cackle’s back into the longer bob and they were in the same room that the picture had been taken in, but so much had changed during the past decade. 

Now she was officially Abby’s Mummy, though she noticed it was becoming Mum more often now, something that she didn’t mind at all, it meant just as much. And of course Abby had a Mama now in Constance as well as two little sisters, one of whom clearly wanted to see what they were looking at. 

“Who’s that little one?”, Constance asked a curious Ava.

“Mummy.”, the twenty-one month old exclaimed loudly.

“And?”

On seeing Ava’s confused face her big sister filled her in. “It’s me, the most adorable kid ever- ’til you came along. You too Zee.”, Abby glanced into the Moses basket where her newborn sister was sleeping and blew her a kiss, not wanting to risk waking her. 

“You’re all adorable.”, Constance told her, taking the picture again and greedily drinking in the image of the daughter she hadn’t met until she was eight years old. She was always keen to know about Abby’s very early childhood and eagerly listened to stories and looked at the many pictures Imogen and Jamie had kept. “May I have this one after you’ve scanned it?”

“Of course Sweetheart.” Imogen moved over to kiss Constance, thrilled at how much focus her wife put on Abby, always ensuring she was equal to the children they had each given birth to. 

It was as she saw her mothers kiss that the beginning of an idea began to form in Abby’s mind.

 

**Ava**

Abby kept the idea to herself until just before Ava’s second birthday when she ran it past her mother. 

“I was thinking we could re-create that picture. Mama told me it’s one of her favourites and I think she’d like one with Ava doing the same. We could give it to her on Ava’s birthday. What do you think?”

Imogen was delighted at the thoughtfulness Abby was showing, though not surprised. Her daughter was always kind and considerate, especially where her family were concerned. 

“I love that idea honey, but how come you waited until now to suggest it?”

Abby shrugged, “Well, now she’s exactly the same age I was and I think it will make it even more special. And besides- you’re back to being super fit again after being pregnant, you could probably do push-ups with me, Ava and Zara on your back.”

“Somehow I don’t think this little monkey would stay holding on, would you sweetpea?” Imogen adjusted her hold on three month old Zara who was gazing around the room, obviously afraid that she was missing out on something. Thinking it wouldn’t be long before this little girl was running around the place with her sisters, Imogen kissed the downy hair that had only started to come through and popped the baby into her swing so she could get a good view of the proceedings. 

“Come on so.” Abby took Ava by the hand and led her to the centre of the room. “Let’s take a picture for Mama.”

Ava immediately went into what the family deemed her “pose mode”, smiling angelically at the camera Abby was holding. 

“Aww, sweet.” The photographer couldn’t resist snapping a picture while Imogen lay stomach down on the floor.

“Up on my back you get poppet.”

Ava gladly complied, giggling as she did so. “Horsey, horsey!”

“You can play horsey in a minute.”, Abby told her. “Look at me. No, not like that, it’s too posed. Now I can’t see your face. Ava- yeah, that’s good. Stay like that No it’s too cheesy now. Agghhhh this just doesn’t look natural.”

As she lowered herself back down on the ground Imogen pointed out the obvious, “Well, it’s not honey. We’re trying to recreate a picture and you know that as soon as this one sees a camera she goes into full on model mode, something she’s learned from you by the way. She turned and pulled the happy two year old into a cuddle. “Isn’t that right poppet?”

Seeing Ava laughing so naturally in between giving their Mum kisses gave Abby an idea. “Don’t forget horsey.” 

As Imogen pushed herself back up with Ava’s hands at the base of her neck the camera was out again. 

“Smile.”

Before Ava could fully react Abby got the natural but still very cute picture she had wanted

“Oh thank you dear, this is absolutely beautiful.” Constance hugged Abby tightly, loving the photo she had been handed alongside a bunch of handpicked flowers on the morning of June 30th. She was already planning on putting it in the office, next to the one of Abby when she took over Amelia’s role of principal in September. 

“It turned out perfectly.” Imogen was seeing the picture for the first time having been told by Abby that she too would have to wait. She saw herself looking upwards at the camera while Ava looked slightly surprised but by the look in her eyes, absolutely thrilled with herself.

Ava also loved the picture, especially how happy it seemed to make her Mama who leaned down and kissed the birthday girl’s beaming face.

“I believe we have a birthday party to go to.”

“My party! Yay!”

“Plenty more photo ops there.”, Abby told her sister before leading the way to where their extended family was waiting for them. With cameras ready of course. 

 

**Zara**

“Ready Zee?”

“Ready Absy.”

Zara’s cheeky grin was infectious and her Mummy and sisters were instantly smiling with her.

“Just like we did when you came to P.E.”, Imogen instructed as she crouched down on the floor. “Hop on.”

Getting Zara to hop on wasn’t the issue, it was getting her to stay there that was causing the problem. Before her mother could lower herself down she was gone having spotted one of her furry friends.

“Pixie!”

While she loved the humans in her life unconditionally, Zara had been drawn to animals since she was old enough to know they existed and as her parents often speculated, considered Morgana another mother and Pixie another older but slightly less mature sister.

“Ughh.”, Abby sighed. “We’re never going to get this done before Mama comes back from her meeting.”

Sure enough, Zara was refusing to leave the cat’s corner, even insisting that the banana chips her Mummy tried to bribe her with were eaten with them. 

Seeing how frustrated Abby was getting, Imogen decided some more bribery was in order. Leaning down she whispered conspiratorially to Ava who was eager to help, “I know what will get your sister out of that cat bed.”

“Play kitties with me please Abby.” Ava called loudly as she had been instructed.

Immediately Abby twigged what was happening and got down on the floor, miaowing loudly with her middle sister.

The little blonde head shot up. They were playing cats without her? That certainly wouldn’t do.

“Wanna be a kitty.”, she pouted.

“I’ll play with you.”, Imogen offered. “You know when Pixie climbs on Morgana’s back? Let’s do that.”

Zara squealed with delight as she was raised off the ground, the moment captured perfectly by Abby who was ready with the camera.

The following morning Constance found a copy of the picture waiting for her on the breakfast table. 

“I thought you’d like this to complete your collection. Love you lots Mama, Abby xx”

Constance more than liked the photo, she loved it and immediately put it in the office with the two matching ones. As she looked at the three of them she was struck by the similar looks of joy in her girl’s faces, looks that she would never tire of seeing as long as she lived. 

 

**The Pictures On The Wall**

It was a couple of months later when someone asked her about the pictures. The school was going through a mandatory inspection and, far from the traumatic first one they had experienced, this one was going very smoothy. 

Having left the inspector in her office reviewing some paperwork, Constance returned with fresh tea and scones only to find the younger woman looking at her pictures on the wall. 

“I hope you don’t mind, I got distracted by these lovely photographs. I didn’t realise you and Miss Drill were married.”

Previously she would have bristled at the sentence, assuming incorrectly that it implied disapproval. Now Constance smiled as she set the tray down. “Yes, we are.”

“Your children are beautiful. I love this series of pictures.” She pointed to the matching images of Abby, Ava and Zara on their mother’s back. “They started early with the exercise.”

Constance laughed, her face glowing as she did so. “They’re always on the go, especially Zara”, she pointed at their youngest.

Taking the tea and scone that were offered to her, the inspector confided a secret. “My wife is pregnant, we’ve only just found out.”

“Oh, how lovely. Congratulations.”

Cackle’s easily passed the inspection and the OFWITCH representative left with plenty of good advice from someone who clearly knew what she was talking about. 

And as for Constance, she sat in her office and took a moment to look at her trio of pictures. Abby had been slightly incorrect, her collection wasn’t quite complete yet but luckily there was plenty of space for a fourth frame next to these three. 

Still smiling Constance left the office, photographs were marvellous but nothing beat the real life faces of her family.


End file.
